Everything you need to know about 'Austria's Donald Trump' — who could become the first far-right European head of state since WW2

Norbert Hofer delivers a speech. The sign reads "Your home country needs you now"
Reuters/Leonhard Foeger
Today, far-right politician Norbert Hofer could become Austria's president, and therefore be the first far-right head of state in Europe since the Second World War.

He now has another chance to become the country's president, and cement his meteoric rise. Van der Bellen will be his opponent once again.

Since the start of 2016, Hofer has risen from someone relatively unknown outside of political circles to taking 35% of votes in the first round of the initial presidential elections as the candidate for the Austria Freedom Party. In doing so he beat out all the establishment candidates.

Strictly speaking, Austria's presidency is a ceremonial role, but Hofer has vowed that if he were to win, he would put his limited powers to full use, and to try and extend his control.

During his initial campaign, Hofer was compared to the man who is now US President-elect, Donald Trump for his anti-immigration stance. He also drew attention for carrying a 9mm glock with him everywhere he goes, and has claimed increases in gun ownership in Austria are linked to immigration.

Austria may not be a major economic or political superpower, with a population of just 8.5 million people and a GDP of less than $450 billion — but should it elect a far-right leader, it would be a major watershed for Europe, whose nations have broadly steered clear of politicians too far right from the centre-ground since the atrocities of World War II.

It will be especially pertinent given the wave of populism that has swept Europe and the USA, leading to Trump's election and Brexit, as well as the rise of Marine le Pen, the far-right leader of France's Front National.

But who is Norbert Hofer, and how did he come so close to becoming one of the most important people in Austrian politics? Business Insider took a look.

Hofer started out in life as the son of a local politician and a power station director in the south-eastern Austrian town of Vorau. He trained as an aeronautical engineer, working for an airline owned by former F1 World Champion Niki Lauda between 1991 and 1994. He also briefly served in the Austrian army, working as a border guard on the country's border with Hungary.

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Reuters/Heinz Peter Bader

After moving into politics, Hofer worked his way through the ranks of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPO), a right-wing populist party led by Heinz-Christian Strache. Hofer was a close advisor to Strache in his early years with the FPO and served as a provincial secretary for the Burgenland province for nearly 10 years.

Strache remains as leader of the FPO, but Hofer holds the office of Third President of Austria's National Council, to which he was elected in 2013. In that role he is one of two deputies to the President of National Council, who is essentially the speaker of the Austria parliament.

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Migrants walk away from the border crossing from Hungary in Nickelsdorf, Austria September 14, 2015.
Reuters

Hofer's key message is one of immigration control. Last year, roughly 90,000 migrants settled in Austria, a number Hofer sees as far too high. He promised to try and curb further migration from outside of Europe and also reportedly vowed to carry out the deportation of Muslims.

Hofer also advocated repatriating the Italian territory of South Tyrol, which was once part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Hofer proposed the idea in a speech in 2015 and has since said that one way of achieving this could be to give people in the area dual Italian and Austrian nationality.

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Reuters/Leonhard Foeger

Hofer is a huge advocate for guns, carrying a 9mm Glock pistol around with him on the campaign trail.

Hofer has been described by some commentators as the "Austrian Donald Trump" for his strong stance on immigration, populist politics, and promises to put "Austria First," a slogan that it has been suggested, draws inspiration from the president-elect's famous "Make America Great Again" battle cry.

When Austria's first presidential election was held in May, Trump was simply an upstart trying to gain the Republican nomination for president — something that virtually every single commentator said wouldn't happen. Trump is now just over a month away from becoming the leader of the free world.

While there are big comparisons to be seen between Hofer and Trump, the Austrian's campaign rhetoric has been nowhere near as fiery as Trump's was. He is famously soft spoken, speaking quietly and thoughtfully.

He also denies that he is a right-wing politician. According to the Guardian, Hofer said in a recent interview that he is "to the left of the US Democrats." He added that Austria is lucky not to have an extremist party like Greece's Golden Dawn, which has in the past been accused of racism and xenophobia, and described as a Neo-Nazi party.

Hofer has portrayed himself as the "Stimme der Vernunft" or the "Voice of reason."

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Reuters/Leonhard Foger

It was suggested that Hofer would be the first far-right head of state in Europe since the end of World War II if elected. While that wasn't strictly true because of Spain's Francisco Franco, who ruled the country as a fascist dictator until 1975 (although he was not elected), Hofer would be by far the most right-wing politician to be elected to high office in many decades.

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Reuters/Leonhard Foeger

Austria's presidency is a ceremonial role, and the most important power held by the president is the ability to dissolve Austria's parliament. But Hofer had said he would try to extend his powers.

He vowed that if elected, he would go to Brussels to attend European Union meetings, something that is generally reserved for Austria's chancellor, currently Christian Kern. Hofer said he would also refuse to sign the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership deal, as he believes it would infringe on Austria's sovereignty. That rhetoric draws parallels to Trump's assertion that he will scrap the USA's involvement in the Transpacific Partnership on his first day in the White House.

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Reuters/Leonhard Foeger

While Hofer is hugely popular, he also has many opponents. Prior to the May election, protestors took to the streets of Vienna to oppose Hofer. Demonstrators compared him to Austrian-born dictator Adolf Hitler, carrying placards that read "No Nazi in the Hofburg (Austria's presidential residence.)" Posters bearing Hofer's face have also been defaced with swastika's and other Nazi imagery.

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Reuters/Charles Platiau

Prior to the first vote in May, one the of the biggest concerns in some circles about Hofer's rise was that it could help to galvanise other far-right parties across Europe.

However, now it is the other way round, with Brexit and Trump's election giving populist causes like Hofer's further credibility.

While she is not expected to gain victory, Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's Front National she is expected to come very close in next year's presidential election, while in Germany, Alternative for Deutschland — an anti-Muslim party — has also experienced a gain in popularity.

The Netherlands has also seen a rise in the popularity of the Party of Freedom, which now tops the polls. The party is headed by Geert Wilders, who was banned from entering the UK for his role in creating anti-Islamic film Fitna.